Henry Huth (1815-1878)

Henry Huth was born in 1815, the son of Frederick Huth who originated from Hanover but came to London during the Napoleonic wars and established a banking firm there. Henry was educated at George Keylock Rusden’s school at Leith Hill in Surrey, where in addition to the standard curriculum, he also learnt Arabic, Persian and Hindustani as there was some idea of him entering the Indian Civil Service. However when he left school in 1833, he entered his father’s business. Not finding this particularly to his taste, he spent several years abroad, with extended stays in Germany, France, the United States and Mexico. He returned to England in 1843 and married the following year, then settled in Hamburg. Finally, in 1849, he rejoined his father’s firm in London.

Back in London, he vigorously pursued the hobby of collecting books, and purchased items at nearly all the important sales. He was particular in only purchasing items in excellent condition. He had an especially fine collection of Bibles and an important collection of Elizabethan ballads (principally purchased at the sale of George Daniels’ library in 1864) but his library covered nearly every subject. He was a member of the Philobiblion Society and the Roxburghe Club and published several volumes based on his own collection.

In his later years, he lived at Wykehurst Place, in Bolney, Sussex. The house was designed and built for him by E.M. Barry somewhat in the style of the French châteaux of the Loire. After his death in 1878, his second son, Alfred Henry Huth, looked after the collection and was himself a prominent bibliophile and collector, but the library was sold off after the latter’s death in 1910.